A Greenwood man is in the Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility after leading authorities on a chase in three counties.
Winona police attempted a traffic stop on a Dodge Charger driven by Kelsey Jennings, 36, at 9:15 p.m. on Oct. 5 on Mississippi Highway 407, according to Police Chief Roshaun Daniels.
“As the officer attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver began to accelerate in an attempt to evade the officer’s stop,” stated Daniels.
Jennings led police on a nearly 25-mile chase from Winona through Carroll County and into Leflore County.
“The driver of the vehicle showed no regard for human life as he topped speeds of over 130 miles an hour and weaved his way around the vehicles of innocent travelers,” stated Daniels.
The Winona officer called for assistance from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the Leflore County Sheriff’s Office, but Jennings thwarted deputies’ attempts to slow the driver down and box him in.
“The driver responded by crossing the median and driving westward in the eastbound lanes of Highway 82 as he crossed from Carroll County and into Leflore County,” stated Daniels. “The driver approached speeds of 130 mph while driving the wrong way.”
Jennings continued to endanger human life, Daniels said, as he approached a heavily populated city. The Winona Police officer decided to perform a PIT maneuver in order to end the chase and preserve lives of other drivers on the highway, according to Daniels.
“[PIT is] a maneuver to get him to stop,” said Daniels. “If he didn’t stop, he was going to make someone wreck. He was heading into oncoming traffic. There was a lot of traffic on the road that night. He could have had a head-on collision.”
The fleeing Charger wrecked on the south side of Highway 82 eastbound, and police took Jennings into custody at the scene of the accident. He was taken by Lifeflight to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson where he was treated and released into the custody of the Winona Police Department.
He was then booked into the Carroll Montgomery Regional Correctional Facility on charges of felony fleeing and possession of controlled substance with intent to sell or transfer.
“It’s undetermined why he fled,” said Daniels. “The controlled substance he had could have been a possibility or the warrant he had out of Grenada. He has a felony fleeing there as well.”
